Happy Birthday, Harry!
by PhoenixWild25236
Summary: To celebrate Harry's birthday, a brief one shot of a birthday past. OK, I meant this to be happier, but since I picked the birthday right after the war ended (July 31, 1998), I ended up with a version of Harry facing PTSD (eight years of trama, that's a lot!) and the surprising hero of the story, Luna. Reviews are always welcome!


**Ok, let's try this again, but without the programming code at the beginning. I think this website hates copying and pasting from Google Docs...**

**Enjoy!**

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Harry walked through the woods, seeking refuge in silence of the trees, yet every step made him jump. The forest was looking a little overgrown, a little too closely resembling the forbidden forest. Before he knew it, he was breathing quickly, hearing echoes of a war that had come and gone. He shook his head, trying to stop the memories from coming and ran at full speed, not caring where he was heading.

Why did this keep happening to him? It was the end of July, the second wizarding war had ended just a few months ago, and yet escape the memories that haunted him. He went everywhere searching for refuge: While at Hogwarts, all he could see was Dumbledore's body crumpled on the grounds. At Diagon Alley, the invasive billboards promoting Weasley Wizarding Weasley reminded him of a missing twin. At Grimmauld place, reminders of Sirius lay in every corner of the home. Even at the Burrow he was constantly plagued with unwanted memories, the most recent causing him to snap at Molly and react in anger to a simple request. When he realized how he was acting, he fled out the door and towards, well, anywhere. This had never been a problem before, why now? Was his last battle with Voldemort the straw that broke the camel's back? Where was his strength now that everything was over?

Tears formed, and his foot caught on a rock. He fell face forward into a small creek, scratching his face, breaking his glasses, and getting soaked from head to foot. Something about the cold water snapped him out of his funk, though. He sat in the water in a moment of shock, secretly glad no one was there to witness his fall, or so he thought.

"Harry," said a sing song voice, "you don't have to dive into the water to catch the fresh water pimplies. I have an extra net." Harry stood up and turned around to see Luna poised gracefully on a rock, net in hand and basket by her side. He blinked stupidly, caught off guard with the idea that Luna was right in front of him. He knew that the Lovegoods lived close to the Weasley's, but he didn't think he had wandered that far from the Burrow. Apparently he was mistaken.

"Hi, Luna," Harry responded with an embarrassed tone. Realizing he was still in the water, he stumbled out on to the bank and stood next to her. "I was just…" He stopped, becoming more awkward.

"Running away from memories." Luna added nonchalantly. "I didn't think you'll go much farther with broken glasses." With that, she jumped off her rock, grabbed Harry's glasses out of the water, and with a quick tap, handed the glasses back to Harry. He took them with a mumbled thanks and joined Luna on the rock, looking out on the creek. They sat in silence, Harry on the edge of saying something, then biting his tongue. Luna grabbed her net but instead of placing it in the water, simply held it at her side, looking thoughtfully at it.

"When my mother died, I tried to run away from my memories, too. They were so overwhelming, and I never seem to run far enough to escape them. My dad always found me here at the creek, sitting on the bank because I was too afraid to cross the water. He started to bring the fishing nets when he went to look for me and taught me all about the fresh water pimplies. He said they had extraordinary magical powers that would help increase courage. Sometimes we would come together, but most of the times I would come alone to fish. The more I fished, the less often I would have the memories."

Harry turned to stare out her. Luna looked as though she was casually reading the Quibbler, not revealing something intensely personal. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, and yet, he was surprised at how familiar her story sounded.

"I think it worked. After a while, Daddy wanted me to meet with a nice healer. Before I started fishing for pimplies, I would get very sad at the thought of going out to see anyone. All I wanted to do was stay in my room and watch the leaves blow in the window out of my bedroom window, otherwise I would get overwhelmed and would run away. But this time, I felt a little braver. The healer was a nice lady, she said I was very brave and helped me to accept my memories instead of running away in fear. I still like to come out and fish for pimplies even if I don't need any extra courage anymore."

Luna turned and looked at Harry, who was now gazing at his feet. After a few moments he looked up at her, his old resolve back in his eyes. "Thanks, Luna. Do you think you could show me how to catch some of those pimplies?"

Luna looked back over to the creek, then back at him with a look that plainly said he was being silly. "You scared them all away when you fell into the creek."

"Oh," was all he could say, and he felt disappointed, even though he didn't actually believe in fresh water pimplies.

"But," she said, catching Harry's attention, "They always come back in the morning. Do you want to fish with me then?" Harry smiled and nodded his head. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and turned to leave.

"Harry, before you go, I have something for you. It is your birthday, after all." Luna stood up and held her wand up and made a diagonal cross and then dotted the middle. Harry thought she looked a little silly, but with the slight flick at the end, a small card appeared. Magic, it seemed, would never cease to amaze Harry.

"The nice healer told me that whenever I needed to talk or if I ever felt like my feelings were more than I could handle, all I had to do was to make that motion and I would have a way to call her." She handed Harry the card. On the front was labeled Gwen Evensly, trauma healer. On the back, a red spot about the size of his thumb.

"All you have to do is touch the red spot with your thumb and she'll know to apparate to wherever you are. She and I used to meet here a lot at the beginning. She said with all of the pimplies I would be brave and feel safe."

arry nodded and smiled for the first time that day. "Thank you, Luna," not able to put into words how much he appreciated having someone who allowed him to just sit and listen to something he needed to hear. Luna smiled brightly, picked up her things, and skipped off towards her home. Harry sat down on the rock, took a deep breath, and touched the spot on the card, feeling a little braver even without catching some fresh water pimplies./span/p


End file.
